Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) was without question the most popular and influential German opera composer in the second half of the 19th century, who introduced numerous innovations in operatic conventions while writing in a highly original musical style. Most of his operas are still in the repertoire of major opera houses, with Tristan und Isolde and the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen being some of his most characteristic.

Wagner was also a prolific writer and orator, and was keenly interested in philosophy and mythology. His preferred philosopher was Arthur Schopenhauer, and he shared a stormy acquaintanceship with Friedrich Nietzsche (30 years his junior) as well. Most of his mature operas take their stories and symbology from old German and Norse myths.

Biography

Having relatively little formal musical training, Wagner was very well-read and wrote the libretti for all of his mature operas. In his early career, Wagner moved to Paris, where he unsuccessfully tried to make his mark composing grand operas, a scene dominated by the now mostly forgotten composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Wagner moved to Dresden, where he was involved in the failed 1849 revolution, having written political tracts in its support, and was forced to flee his native Germany for Switzerland for 10 years. After spending a short while in Vienna where his extravagant financial habits forced him to flee yet again, he luckily found an ardent patron in King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig, who was obsessed with Wagner's music and likely with Wagner himself, paid off the composer's debts and eventually built an opera house at Bayreuth specially designed for performances of Wagner's operas.

Unique among the world's opera houses, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus has several special acoustic features designed by Wagner himself, including a hooded orchestra pit (to allow the large orchestra required in his operas to be able to play at full volume without overwhelming the singers). Since its opening in 1876, the Festspielhaus has hosted an annual festival of Wagner's operas, especially the Ring cycle, a massive undertaking of four interconnected operas traditionally performed over four evenings.

Wagner married Cosima Liszt, Franz Liszt's daughter.

Artistic Philosophy and Innovative Musical Features

Wagner's main philosophical contribution to opera was the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art." In articles he wrote while in exile, he explained that in opera, the orchestra, singers, text, and scenery were all crucial elements of the total artistic impression and should therefore be given equal weight. What this meant in practice was that the orchestra took on an even greater role than before, and the musical flow became completely uninterrupted from the beginning to the end of an act. This also meant that the aria, traditionally a showpiece for the singer, practically disappeared to be replaced by a more constant stream of musical ideas.

To give order to this new concept of opera, Wagner invented the leitmotiv, which is a relatively short melodic idea that represents a certain character, thing, or idea. A leitmotiv associated with a particular character often appears in the orchestra while being mentioned by another character, effectively acting as a stand-in. More complex leitmotivs include the "Tristan chord," a particularly memorable harmonic progression in Tristan und Isolde first heard in the prelude which comes to symbolize the love and death of the two title characters. While Wagner never used the word leitmotiv to describe his own operas, it is a clearly discernible technique in his music which has influenced many other composers. It has been recognizably used since then in film scores.

Famous Works

(All years indicate the dates of completion)

• Rienzi (1840)
• Der fliegende Holländer (1841)
• Tannhäuser (1844)
• Lohengrin (1848)
• Der Ring des Nibelungen, cycle of four operas:

• Das Rheingold (1854)
• Die Walküre (1856)
• Siegfried (1871)
• Götterdämmerung (1874)

• Tristan und Isolde (1859)
• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1867)
• Parsifal (1882) (Last Opera)

See Also

• Classical music
• K. Freigedank

External links

• Wagner, Richard
• Bayreuth Festspielhaus official website

Sources

• The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989